Liquor permit approved, another denied

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BRADFORD—Spirits were not running high at last week’s Bradford Selectboard meeting after a request to serve beer and wine by a local business was denied.
Vittles House of Brews’ owner Kendall Gendron had submitted a request to reserve the Bradford Academy auditorium on Oct. 31 for a Halloween Drag Burlesque Show and to serve beer and wine at an party in the building’s gymnasium. Use of the BA auditorium and gym was the subject of most discussion at the Sept. 9 meeting with selectboard members Ted Unkles, Carole Taylor, Meroa Benjamin, Daniel Perry III, and Ryan Lockwood, and several members of the public present.

Rivendell maintains mask mandate

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ORFORD—Students and staff will be wearing masks at Rivendell’s three schools for the foreseeable future.
“Our focus remains on keeping the school community healthy and our schools operational,” superintendent Barrett Williams wrote in a letter on Sept. 10.
On Sept. 14, the district reported two cases at Rivendell Academy in Orford, one case at Samuel Morey Elementary School in Fairlee, and a potential case at Westshire Elementary School that needed further testing.

FD members quit in leadership spat

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WEST TOPSHAM—Half a dozen area firefighters resigned last week after a combustible association annual meeting.
Six firefighters resigned from the Tri-Village Fire Department on Sept.1, citing dissatisfaction with leadership, the current trustee board’s incompetence, lack of professionalism, and the risk of allowing untrained personnel to operate apparatus and attend working fire scenes.
According to TVFD Chief Rich Sampson, who has held the post for close to 12 years, the department is functioning normally and the resignations will not affect the department’s ability to respond to emergencies with sufficiently trained personnel. He said approximately 23 volunteers remain.

Judge rejects most motions in Simpson kidnap case

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BURLINGTON—A federal judge has denied more than 40 self-filed motions by a Vermont defendant charged with abducting a woman, crossing state lines, and sexually assaulting her in front of her son in Windsor County.
Everett A. Simpson, 44, most recently from St. Johnsbury, had filed about four dozen defense motions, including 11 requests seeking dismissal of the criminal case, two other motions to remove the prosecutors and one motion to disqualify the judge. All were rejected last week by Senior Federal Judge Williams K. Sessions III.
Simpson has pleaded not guilty to two kidnapping charges involving a mother and child and two counts of interstate transportation of a stolen car.

OESU to continue masks into October

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BRADFORD—Although the Vermont Department of Education has recommended that schools require universal masking for all students and staff for the first 10 days of the year, schools in Orange East Supervisory Union will continue the practice through at least Oct. 15.
The announcement came last week before at least one COVID-19 case prompted some classes at Bradford Elementary School to shift to remote learning.

Reval finds growth

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WOODSVILLE—The town’s assessor says the value of Haverhill’s grand list grew 16% in the last five years.
Tim Northcott of M&N Assessing told selectboard members on Aug. 30 that the schedule of property in town increased from $400,410,353 to $464,347,792 under the most recent revaluation conducted earlier this year.
Northcott said the revaluation examined all market sales that took place between April 2019 and April 2021.

Hearing held on detention center

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NEWBURY—Dozens of residents who oppose a state plan to develop a juvenile detention center in rural Newbury registered their objections at a state land use hearing on Aug. 25.
The Vermont Department of Children and Families and the nonprofit Becket Family of Services want to remodel a two-story building on Stevens Place which was originally a bed and breakfast and which Becket had been running as a treatment center for several years. It will hold up to six male offenders, aged 12-17, in state custody. The facility and property will still be owned and operated by Becket subsidiary Vermont Permanency Initiative, but it will be leased to DCF and renovated with state funds.

Students start without masks

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NORTH HAVERHILL—For the third time in the last three months, the Haverhill Cooperative School Board decided against requiring students to wear masks at the start of the 2021-2022 school year.
Holding a special meeting on Aug. 26 to solicit public input on reopening plans, board members narrowly rejected a proposal to impose a student mask mandate for the first month of school when the six board members attending the session deadlocked 3-3 on the motion. They also declined to require facial coverings for staff members while empowering the superintendent to change the schedule, require masks, or make other pandemic-related adjustments on an emergency interim basis.

Board hears roads, speed complaints

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ORFORD—The Orford Selectboard voted to accept the first installment of its American Rescue Plan Act funds following a public hearing last week.
The board held a brief hearing at the start of its regularly scheduled meeting on Aug. 25 to discuss whether to accept $68,100 in coronavirus relief funding. There was little, if any, public input.
And while there was some discussion about using the funds to build out the town’s broadband internet infrastructure, the three board members unanimously agreed to set the money aside for now.

Board does U-turn on ARPA plan

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WOODSVILLE—After two previous votes to spend federal coronavirus relief funds on a plan proposed by the town’s precincts, the Haverhill Selectboard reversed course on Monday night.
The board voted 3-2 to reconsider its motion approved two weeks ago following a two-hour public hearing that was attended by dozens of people. It then voted 3-2 to retain the funds for a plan as proposed by Haverhill Town Manager Brigitte Codling.